On Friday, Sorrentino, 36, is being sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion in January. Speaking to PEOPLE in April ahead of the Jersey Shore Family Vacation season premiere, the cast of the hit show weighed in on their friend’s legal case, rallying behind him as best as they could.

“I really, really hope he doesn’t wind up having to go to jail,” said Deena Cortese, 31. “When it comes to prison, I don’t think anybody is prepared for that. I’m hoping that they go easy on him. He became such a better person — and he was a villain for so long. We couldn’t even stand him, and now he’s so different. I can’t wait for people to see how much he’s changed.”

“I’m hoping for positive results for him,” she added. “And he survived a house with us raging lunatics sober and so positive, so god forbid he goes, jail should be a breeze.”

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, 32, famously feuded with Sorrentino throughout the show’s original run — but now, he’s proud of his former foe.

“I always knew what he was doing behind cameras and nobody else knew,” he recalled. “I knew about his addictions and his bad habits, and that kind of ate at me. Because here this guy was, causing all this trouble, and it wasn’t really him. It was the demons inside of him.”

“It took him hitting rock bottom to humble him out and bring out the good person inside of him,” he continued. “Some people need that, and I’m sorry for the stuff that he’s going through — but it has made him a better person. We were very thankful that we got to live with Mike this time, and not ‘The Situation.’ ”

“He’s a completely different person,” said Guadagnino, 30. “I mean, Mike went from being the guy that you didn’t want to be around to being a guy that is actually uplifting and inspirational. He holds his head high — he’s more positive than me.”

DelVecchio, 38, admitted Sorrentino used to be quite the “arrogant a—hole.”

“That’s not the case anymore,” he said. “He’s like a gentleman now, he’s sweet. It’s the weirdest thing for me. Sometimes on the show I’m like, ‘Mike, can you say something negative to somebody? Please?!’ ”

“That’s some scary stuff, I’ve got to be honest,” said DelVecchio. “I wouldn’t wish what he’s going through on anybody. I really hope that he doesn’t have to go away. I mean, that would be the worst thing that could ever happen.”

But if it came down to it, Guadagnino said he thinks Sorrentino would “handle it better than any of us.”

“I think he would handle it better than a lot of people out there, just because his mind is very positive right now,” he said. “He accepts everything and he takes everything one day at a time. He has all the tools to get through what he’s going through.”

The two were spotted hanging out Wednesday night at popular nightclub The Nice Guy. Although the two arrived separately, O’Brien, 26, was seen hopping into 21-year-old Moretz’s waiting car after the outing. They were also joined by friends for the car ride and the group appeared to be in high spirits.

Moretz looked low-key but fashionable in a black dress with lace details and a blue blazer on top, while O’Brien kept it casual in a simple blue shirt and dark pants.

The outing comes seven years after O’Brien confessed to having a crush on Moretz — and then took it back. The actor praised Moretz’s performance in the 2010 movie Kick-Ass in an interview without realizing she was only 14 at the time.

“I wanna give a special shout out to Chloe Moretz because she is the most badass little chick that I’ve ever seen,” he told Hollywire in 2011. “What she did in Kick-Ass is amazing and I have a crush on her.”

A few months later, he clarified his comment.

“I recently Wikipedia-ed Chloe Moretz and I saw how old she was,” he again told Hollywire. “So I would like to take it back and retract and say that I think Chloe is a very cute and talented girl. I don’t have a crush on her.”

O’Brien was last linked to his longtime girlfriend Britt Robertson, who he met when they filmed the 2011 movie The First Time, though The Blast reports they haven’t been seen together since earlier this year.

Moretz recently ended her rekindled romance with Brooklyn Beckham in the spring.

MILAN — Is Pitti Uomo opening to fast fashion?
According to a report on Italian web site Fashion Magazine, COS will host a fashion show at the upcoming edition of Pitti Uomo, which will run June 12 to 15 in Florence.
This would mark the debut at the trade show for the H&M-owned accessible brand and the first time the exhibition would appoint a fast-fashion brand as special guest.
Reached on Thursday, the show organizer Pitti Immagine and the brand declined to comment on the report.
Last month, Craig Green and Roberto Cavalli were confirmed to show at Pitti Uomo. The former was named Menswear Guest Designer of the upcoming edition, while the latter was tapped as Special Guest and will host a fashion show to relaunch men’s wear under the creative direction of Paul Surridge.

Carlo Alberto Beretta, chief client and marketing officer at Kering, is leaving the French group, WWD has learned.
It is understood Beretta is exiting the role for personal reasons. He took up the post, a new one, in September 2016, when Claus Dietrich Lahrs succeeded him as chief executive officer of Bottega Veneta.
Beretta, who was also on group’s executive committee, was charged with monitoring the equity of the brands in the group’s portfolio; establishing “a comprehensive, measurable and profitable customer culture” for each of them; and speeding the development of the group’s omnichannel capabilities.
Kering’s portfolio includes Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Boucheron, Brioni and Puma.
Beretta started his career in 1993 at the Italian department store La Rinascente as senior buyer. He spent over seven years there, winding up as merchandising manager for men’s wear. He was then appointed men’s wear brand manager at Valentino. In 2003 he joined the Ermenegildo Zegna group, working 11 years, eventually rising to retail development director. He was appointed ceo of Bottega Veneta in January 2015.

KEEPING THE FAITH: In these politically charged times, it appears that the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute isn’t afraid to take on its own controversial topics.
Fashion and religion will be the theme of next year’s major exhibition, according to multiple sources, including a few who said they have been privy to preliminary discussions. A Met spokeswoman declined to comment Friday.
With the May opening still many months away, the planning is still in the very early stages. Sources describe the project as serious and ambitious, and it is understood the idea was hatched long before the current “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: The Art of the In-Between” show, slated to close Sept. 4. A host of European designers have referenced religion in their collections, including the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano and Riccardo Tisci. The likeness of the Madonna has been appropriated by Dolce & Gabbana, and the iconography of Jesus has been featured in Jeremy Scott’s collection. Prabal Gurung once brought Buddhist monks to his runway.
In recent years, the Costume Institute exhibitions have been major blockbusters for The Met. Last year’s “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” attracted 752,995 visitors, making it the museum’s seventh

It goes without saying that at 54 years old, Vanessa Williams is a true American beauty. But when looking at the former Miss America, it’s hard to miss one feature: her striking bold blue eyes. And we’re not alone on that one. Apparently, Williams says she’s gotten some pretty interesting compliments about her big blues over the years.

“When I was performing at the casino in Monte Carlo and Jean Claude Van Damme came up to me after the show and said ‘Your eyes look like lasers!’ the Clear Eyes spokeswoman tells PeopleStyle. “That was a big compliment because it was unexpected and very comedic.” So it’s a fitting match to see Williams continuing her relationship with Clear Eyes by starring in the brand’s television spot called My Shining Moment, which celebrates the positive moments in people’s lives.

“I love the new catchphrase ‘Your shining moment,’ because those are the things as a parent you try to instill in your kids — to know that life is precious and there are rough times, but there are some shining moments you need to celebrate,” Williams said.

It goes without saying the star’s had her fair share of shining moments throughout her life in the spotlight, whether it be tying the knot to her husband John Skrip or judging the Miss America competition 32 years after she originally took the crown. But Williams’ standout shining moment happened at the start of her career.

“I grew up outside N.Y.C. and always went to Broadway shows. To see my name in lights at my opening night on Broadway and to see my parents and family and all the people I had gone to school with see me star in a Broadway show back in 1994, I would probably have to say that was a collective win for us all,” the actress told us.

Because of her combined singing and acting careers, Williams has been a red-carpet regular for years. But she says walking the carpet today is a completely different experience than when she started. “It has gotten more massive as years have gone on. The initial red carpet was entering an event and saying hi and moving on,” Williams said. “Now it is a complete photoshoot — the red carpet is work! It’s another event unto itself before even getting to the main event.”

FROM COINAGE: The Crazy Cost of a Lifetime of Beauty

But when Williams admits the greatest joy — besides all the glitz and glam of fame — is connecting with fans.

“I feel most like myself when I’m making a connection with someone and I see the light in their eyes,” she told us. “My favorite part about singing in front of an audience is seeing them sing along — they know every word and you can see tears in their eyes.”

Gabourey Sidibe isn’t exactly some unknown Hollywood ingénue. After all, this is a woman who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress after her deeply moving debut role in the film Precious, and has since gone on to star in hugely successful TV shows like American Horror Story and Empire. But famous or not, in an essay she recently penned for Lenny Letter, the actress recounts a completely unacceptable incident of racial profiling while shopping at Chanel, for which the brand promptly issued an official apology.

In the Lenny essay, Sidibe recounts the story of going to a Chanel store near her house in Chicago to pick up a pair of glasses from the brand she’d been coveting. Once there, the saleswoman informed her they didn’t have any eyeglasses, despite them being clearly on display next to the door, instead directing her to a discount frame dealer across the street.

The actress writes, “I’d love to pretend she was being polite, and I’m sure she would love to pretend she was polite, but she was actually condescending. Explaining to me how exactly I should get across the street and out of her sight line, as if I were in kindergarten. I was trying to purchase glasses, and she was trying to get the interaction with me over as soon as possible. Just to be sure of what was happening, I made her tell me to leave, in her pretend-polite way, three times.”

“I knew what she was doing,” Sidibe continues, “She had decided after a single look at me that I wasn’t there to spend any money. Even though I was carrying a Chanel bag, she decided I wasn’t a Chanel customer and so, not worth her time and energy.”

After her story was published, the French brand was quick to issue an apology, releasing a statement on Wednesday that reads, “Chanel expresses our sincerest regret for the boutique customer service experience that Ms. Sidibe mentioned in this essay. We are sorry that she felt unwelcome and offended. We took her words very seriously and immediately investigated to understand what happened, knowing that this is absolutely not in line with the high standards that Chanel wishes to provide to our customers. We are strongly committed to provide anyone who comes in our boutiques with the best customer service. We do hope that in the future Ms. Sidibe will choose to come back to a Chanel boutique and experience the real Chanel customer experience. ”

“I just didn’t want to worry,” Sidibe, 33, told PEOPLE in March of her decision to get laparoscopic bariatric surgery after she and her older brother Ahmed, 34, were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. “I truly didn’t want to worry about all the effects that go along with diabetes. I genuinely worry all the time about losing my toes.”

“Ultimately, I like looking and feeling pretty for myself even more than I like pretending to be a queen with subjects. Negative comments don’t have to haunt me,” she wrote. “When it comes to how I look, my opinion is the only one that counts.”

What do you think of Chanel’s apology? If you were Sidibe would you shop with the brand again? Sound off below!

Supreme is said to be opening its second New York location in Brooklyn.
According to the @supreme__hustle Instagram account, which is dedicated to all things Supreme, the streetwear brand will open a store in Williamsburg and a real estate source said Supreme had been eyeing a 3,000-square-foot space on Grand Street.
Resellers say rumors of a Brooklyn store have been percolating for a couple years because of the crowds Supreme draws at its SoHo store on Thursdays when new product drops. In 2014 the New York Police Department temporarily shut down the location due to safety concerns surrounding the release of the Supreme Nike Air Foamposite sneakers. The NYPD recently closed Palace, a streetwear brand based in London, due to unruly customers during its store opening.
Andre Arias, who resells Supreme, said talks of a Brooklyn store started to dissipate once the company created a new drop system that alleviated crowds on Lafayette Street. Arias said customers now meet in a park the Monday before Thursday drops and put their names on a list. They then receive a number that dictates when they can enter the flagship, thus eliminating the need for a line.
Despite its overzealous fans, Supreme has maintained a relatively small retail

That could be the philosophy of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — for now. The Senate minority leader — who recently told HuffPost that he’s still open to working with a president who lacks competence — has come up with a Spotify playlist to mark the early part of the reign of Donald Trump. It’s a little bit lighthearted tongue-in-cheek (check out Trump in the “Saturday Night Live” parody video of Drake’s “Hotline Bling” above), a little bit angry, and lots of frustrated.

Unfortunately, there’s not a song for each day. But Schumer has come up with 32 of them, with several titles and lyrics lamenting bitter realizations, disappointing people and lies, such as B.B. King’s “Fool Me Once” and The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

Some of the picks zing particular Trump issues — or personality traits, like “He’s Mista Know-It-All” by Stevie Wonder, “I Want It Now” sung by Esperanza Spalding, and Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend,” an apparent dig at the president’s several weekends off playing golf at Mar-a-Lago.

A common theme involves “alternative facts,” such as “Lyin’ Eyes” by The Eagles, “Lies” by the Thompson Twins (”Lies, lies, lies, yeah”), and “Beautiful Liar” by Beyonce and Shakira.

But there are also a couple about optimism for a better future, such as Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hope and Dreams” (”Big wheels rolling through fields where sunlight streams; meet me in a land of hope and dreams”).

And Bob Marley croons in “Three Little Birds”on Schumer’s playlist: “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing gonna be all right.”

Yes, she lives in a palace and borrows jewelry from the Queen, but Princess Kate is also a mom of two toddlers —which means the same tantrums, food battles and sleep struggles as the rest of us. As 3-year-old Prince George and nearly 2-year-old Princess Charlotte continue to grow, Kate has increasingly shared her thoughts on parenthood and its many challenges. Here are her most honest, relatable quotes about being a mother, the parents she admires and why every child matters.

1. On remembering that as a parent, you’re not alone — even if it feels like it sometimes.

“It is lonely at times and you do feel quite isolated. But actually so many other mothers are going through what you are going through, but it’s being brave enough to actually reach out.”

“Nothing can really prepare you for you the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to become a mother. It is full of complex emotions of joy, exhaustion, love, and worry, all mixed together. Your fundamental identity changes overnight. You go from thinking of yourself as primarily an individual, to suddenly being a mother, first and foremost.”

— at the launch of a series of educational films from Best Beginnings, a charity partner of her Heads Together campaign

3. On judgment:

“Around a third of parents still worry that they will look like a bad mother or father if their child has a mental health problem. Parenting is hard enough without letting prejudices stop us from asking for the help we need for ourselves and our children.”

4. On how important the mental health of her own children is to her:

“We hope to encourage George and Charlotte to speak about their feelings, and to give them the tools and sensitivity to be supportive peers to their friends as they get older. We know there is no shame in a young child struggling with their emotions or suffering from a mental illness.”

5. On the values she hopes to instill in George and Charlotte:

“My parents taught me about the importance of qualities like kindness, respect, and honesty, and I realize how central values like these have been to me throughout my life. That is why William and I want to teach our little children, George and Charlotte just how important these things are as they grow up. In my view it is just as important as excelling at maths or sport.”

— during a visit to Mitchell Brook Primary School in February 2017

6. On how her own upbringing shaped her:

“”When I was growing up I was very lucky. My family was the most important thing to me. They provided me with somewhere safe to grow and learn, and I know I was fortunate not to have been confronted by serious adversity at a young age.”

7. On parenting in difficult circumstances:

“Parenting is tough. And with the history and all the things and the experiences you’ve all witnessed, to do that on top of your own anxieties, and the lack of support you also received as mothers. I find it extraordinary how you’ve managed actually. So really well done.”

— at Anna Freud Centre’s Early Years Parenting Unit in January 2017

RELATED VIDEO: Prince George and Princess Charlotte Have The Best Time in Canada!

8. On why she cares about children’s mental health:

“People often ask me why I am so interested in the mental health of children and young people. The answer is quite simple — it is because I think that every child should have the best possible start in life.”

— at the Place2Be Big Assembly for Children’s Mental Health Week

9. On why we should listen to children:

“Imagine if everyone was able to help just one child who needs to be listened to, needs to be respected, and needs to be loved — we could make such a huge difference for an entire generation.”

— at the Place2Be Headteacher Conference

10. On the “huge challenge” of parenthood:

“Personally, becoming a mother has been such a rewarding and wonderful experience. However, at times it has also been a huge challenge. Even for me, who has support at home that most mothers do not.”

— at the launch of a series of educational films from Best Beginnings, a charity partner of her Heads Together campaign

In 2017, Margaret Atwood is ascendant. The New Yorker has dubbed her the “Prophet of Dystopia.” The upcoming Hulu adaptation of her most well-known book, the feminist speculative novel The Handmaid’s Tale, long in the works, has turned out to be almost ludicrously well-timed to the political moment. Atwood, who has also written chilling speculative fiction about other timely issues (such as climate change), seems prescient to rattled liberals in a post-Trump election world. Everyone wants her thoughts on what’s happening and what’s to come.

The media can be fickle, however. The Handmaid’s Tale has become an oft-studied and -cited modern classic, but its initial reception didn’t necessarily foretell its induction into the canon. The New Yorker, per a perusal of its archives from the time, didn’t review it at all; The New York Times published a sniffy takedown by Mary McCarthy. At the time, the Christian Science Monitor described the book as mostly well-received by critics; meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle suggested that reviews had been poor enough as to make Atwood “defensive” during an interview with the publication.

We dug through the archives to remember what critics were saying about The Handmaid’s Tale back in 1986, when it was published in the U.S., and we found everything from tepid reactions to outright pans to glowing odes. The concept of a dystopia premised on the theocratic oppression of women, perhaps unsurprisingly, has always been polarizing.

Below, check out a selection of the original reviews of The Handmaid’s Tale:

The Ecstatic:

“Just as the world of Orwell’s 1984 gripped our imaginations, so will the world of Atwood’s handmaid. She has succeeded in finding a voice for her heroine that is direct, artless, utterly convincing. It is the voice of a woman we might know, of someone very close to us. In fact, it is Offred’s poignant sense of time that gives this novel its peculiar power. The immense changes in her life have come so fast that she is still in a state of shock and disbelief as she relates to us what she sees around her.”

“[A]mong other things, it is a political tract deploring nuclear energy, environmental waste, and antifeminist attitudes.

“But it so much more than that ― a taut thriller, a psychological study, a play on words. It has a sense of humor about itself, as well as an ambivalence toward even its worst villains, who aren’t revealed as such until the very end. Best of all, it holds out the possibility of redemption. After all, the Handmaid is also a writer. She has written this book. She may have survived.”

“Margaret Atwood’s cautionary tale of postfeminist future shock pictures a nation formed by a backlash against feminism, but also by nuclear accidents, chemical pollution, radiation poisoning, a host of our present problems run amok. Ms. Atwood draws as well on New England Puritan history for her repressive 22[n]d-century society. Her deft sardonic humor makes much of the action and dialogue in the novel funny and ominous at the same time.”

The Ehhhh:

“Atwood, to her credit, creates a chillingly specific, imaginable night-mare. The book is short on characterization ― this is Atwood, never a warm writer, at her steeliest ― and long on cynicism ― it’s got none of the human credibility of a work such as Walker Percy’s Love In The Ruins. But the scariness is visceral, a world that’s like a dangerous and even fatal grid, an electrified fence. Tinny perhaps, but still a minutely rendered and impressively steady feminist vision of apocalypse.”

“Some details of Atwood’s bizarre anti-Utopia are at least as repellent as those in such forerunners as Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World in 1932 and George Orwell’s 1984 16 years later. Those two novels have come to be seen as fiercely moral tracts that jarred their readers to awaken them. Will Atwood, as different from Huxley and Orwell as they were from each other, join them in the accepted ranks of those disguised idealists who image the future as a nightmare in order that it may remain just that ― a fantasy? Certainly the early reviews of her book have been mainly positive.”

“Margaret Atwood’s new novel is being greeted as the long-awaited feminist dystopia and I am afraid that for some time it will be viewed as a test of the imaginative power of feminist paranoia […] As a dystopia, this is a thinly textured one. […] But if Offred is a sappy stand-in for Winston Smith, and Gilead seems at times to be only a coloring book version of Oceania, it may be because Atwood means to do more than scare us about the obvious consequences of a Falwellian coup d’état.”

-Barbara Ehrenreich, The New Republic

“[Atwood’s] regime is a hodgepodge: a theocracy that’s not recognizably Christian, that most Christians don’t accept; a repressive measure borrowed from South Africa; an atrocity adopted by the Romanians. With no unifying vision, the center doesn’t hold.”

-Alix Madrigal, The San Francisco Chronicle

“As a cautionary tale, Atwood’s novel lacks the direct, chilling plausibility of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World. It warns against too much: heedless sex, excessive morality, chemical and nuclear pollution. All of these may be worthwhile targets, but such a future seems more complicated than dramatic. But Offred’s narrative is fascinating in a way that transcends tense and time: the record of an observant soul struggling against a harsh, mysterious world.”

The Harsh:

“The Handmaid’s Tale is watchable, but it’s also paranoid poppycock — just like the book. The actors are imprisoned in Atwood’s grimly inhuman design. […]

“What finally takes the cake for absurdity is a subplot featuring Aidan Quinn as Richardson’s handsome savior. It’s as if Atwood, after all that didactic scrubbing, couldn’t quite wash the princess fantasy out of her story. The Handmaid’s Tale is a tract that strives for sensitivity ― it lacks even the courage of its own misanthropy.”

“The writing of The Handmaid’s Tale is undistinguished in a double sense, ordinary if not glaringly so, but also indistinguishable from what one supposes would be Margaret Atwood’s normal way of expressing herself in the circumstances. This is a serious defect, unpardonable maybe for the genre: a future that has no language invented for it lacks a personality. That must be why, collectively, it is powerless to scare.”

“This cri de coeur is certainly impassioned, and Atwood’s adept style renders the grim atmosphere of the future quite palpably. But the didacticism of the novel wears thin; the book is simply too obvious to support its fictional context. Still, Atwood is quite an esteemed fiction writer, the author of such well-received novels as Surfacing (1973) and Life before Man (1980). Demand for her latest effort, therefore, is bound to be high; unfortunately, the number of disappointed readers may be equally high.”

“Riverdale” star Cole Sprouse isn’t afraid to admit when he’s done something questionable in the past. He also isn’t afraid to laugh at himself, despite his embarrassment, and we can’t help but love and respect that.

He tweeted a photo on Friday of an old quote that looks to be from an old magazine.

In it, he describes his “type” of girl as someone who “doesn’t get worked up about anything” and is “not the kind of girl who is so worried about how she looks that she has to put on pounds of makeup.” LOLz, yikes.

While that’s not exactly the most ~romantic~ description of true love, we have to give Sprouse a pass on this one. The kid was so young! And he admits that he does feel “tormented” by his somewhat shallow remark.

“For me, when I was growing up, not seeing anyone on television that looked like me or that I could identify with was really hard, and that can affect someone’s self-esteem hugely,” Emmanuel — who plays Missandei, a translator on “Game of Thrones” — told Hunger.

Emmanuel, who also played Ramsey, a computer hacker in “Fast and Furious 7” lauded the movie’s casting for its exemplary diversity. But where the rest of the Hollywood ― whose diversity issue was bought to light in 2016 during the #OscarsSoWhite controversy ― is concerned, she said that despite the attempts at diverse casting, she doesn’t know how long-standing these efforts will be.

“Will it be that they just do the one film and then it goes back?” she questioned. “If you go up for anything, you know there is always a cast of people and a small number of them are [from] a minority.

“The majority of the cast will be white with a few roles from a different ethnicity. Ultimately that’s not the world we live in,” she said.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

A SWISS ACCOUNT?: Does Carven have its eye on Serge Ruffieux?
According to market sources, Carven has held talks with the Swiss designer, who rose to prominence in 2016 when he and Lucie Meier jointly held the creative reins of Dior’s women’s collections following the exit of Raf Simons and until the recruitment of his successor, Maria Grazia Chiuri.
The likelihood of a deal with Ruffieux could not immediately be learned. But it is understood that Carven is mere weeks away from naming a new artistic director.
Ruffieux and Meier, respectively, headed fall and spring ready-to-wear and couture studios under Simons, and then took the design helm between October 2015 and July 2016.
Last October, Carven parted ways with the creative duo behind its women’s collections: Alexis Martial and Adrien Caillaudaud. An internal team designed the 2017 pre-fall collection.
Last July, Carven also parted ways with its men’s wear designer Barnabé Hardy, an alum of Balenciaga, after 18 months.
The contemporary label, owned since May 2016 by Bluebell Group, decided to put the men’s line on hold and focus on the women’s collection. Bluebell is a Hong Kong-based, family-owned company that distributes fashion, fragrance, food and home brands throughout Asia.
The house of Carven was founded in

HITTING THE ROAD: Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s new couturier, already has the urge to travel. Word has it she will show her first cruise collection for the house in Los Angeles on May 11. Additional details about the event could not immediately be learned. Dior had taken its couture on the road before, having staged runway shows at Blenheim Palace outside London, at Pierre Cardin’s Bubble Palace and in Monaco. Chiuri, who made her debut at Dior in September after a long career at Valentino, is to unveil her first high-fashion effort in Paris next month.

JadeLynn Brooke Womens Sorry For What I Said T-Shirt Have you ever gotten so involved in the game that you said a few things that you now regret?!? Certainly almost everyone has! This is the shirt for those ladies in your life that love sports and sometimes get a little too involved in the game. With a rounded crew neck, this long sleeve item includes ribbed cuffs and pink and white footballs and bows on the left sleeve. The screen on the front states- Sorry for what I said on gameday- in pink and white. Just above the bottom left shirt tail hem is the JadeLynn BrookeA(R) logo in white. Sassy and sweet, this super soft garment is made of 75% cotton and 25% polyester. It is pre-shrunk and machine washable. 75% cotton, 25% polyester, pre-shrunk Ultra soft, comfortable, rounded crew neck Long sleeves, ribbed cuffs Sorry for what I said on gameday- front screen Pink and white bows and footballs on left sleeve JadeLynn BrookeA(R) logo, above bottom left hem Grey Machine wash Style # JLBSGD-LS-DHG
List Price: $ 39.00Price: $ 39.00

A cuff that helps impoverished women in India succeed – need we say more? Handcrafted at home by Toucan Krafte artisans who earn a fair wage while leaning beading and weaving skills. Artisans enjoy the flexibility of working from home and caring for their families, all while earning a fair wage now that’s a cuff that beautifies so much more than just your wrist. Brass & beads Approximately 6.75″ x 2″ (17.1 x 5 cm) Fairly traded

Aziz Ansari’s real parents, Shoukath and Fatima, are in Master of None, his new Netflix comedy show. Actually some might say they are stealing the show, in a good way, of course! Yesterday, Aziz, 32, took to Facebook with this sweet post about his dad. Can we have an “awwww,” please?

My dad took off most of his vacation time for the year to act in Master of None. So I'm really relieved this all worked…

Presidential candidate and former Comedy Central Roastee Donald Trump has made multiple headlines this year for his repetitive racist and fascist-like remarks. His cartoonish rich-guy cliches have lent themselves to multiple satire articles. Some of them are better than others. What we’re getting at is that it’s harder than we had initially anticipated. Anyways, this is “Who Said It: Donald Trump or Lebron James?” You’ll probably get all of these right. They’re not that hard. Whatever. Here. Content.

“I will build the best wall, the biggest, the strongest, not penetrable, they won’t be crawling over it, like giving it a little jump and they’re over the wall, it will cost us trillions.”

Answer: Donald Trump

Pretty obvious right? Like it would be really weird for Lebron James to take such a radical stance on immigration during his run to 11 NBA All-Star selections. I guess it could feasibly happen, but it would be sort of out of character for him to actively try to appeal to the racist fears of Middle America out of nowhere.

“You know, God gave me a gift to do other things besides play the game of basketball.”

Answer: Lebron James.

Okay I guess technically Donald Trump could have said this. But realistically, the only time when this quote would make sense coming from him is if someone asked him “Donald, why aren’t you a professional basketball player?” Pretty specific question to ask him, given his reasons of notoriety, you know?

“Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are little short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.”

Answer: Donald Trump

Again, this shouldn’t really blow your mind. Lebron James himself is black, so it would be pretty nuts for him to say he’s super against black guys counting his money. I can’t say that I know he’s not an anti-semite, but I feel like he wouldn’t generalize all jewish people like that. It’d be pretty fucked up if he did. I mean he’s better than that, you know? You should be 3 for 3 right now.

“The Oscars were a great night for Mexico, and why not – they are ripping off the US more than almost any other nation.”

Answer: Lebron James. No just kidding it’s Trump again.

Can you imagine if Lebron James was the same guy, but just really hated Mexicans the same way Trump does? Like, a dominant point forward and NBA champion, but just REALLY fucking cannot stand Mexicans. That’d be so weird. Anyways, yeah, you should have gotten this one right too. Sorry. I wish this quiz could be harder. We just didn’t plan it out very well.

“I love Kobe. I love his competitive nature. I love competing against him. I talked to him before the season just to say it’s great to have him back”

Answer: Lebron James

Are we even fucking trying at this point? Yeah, obviously that’s a Lebron James quote. Okay well, we warned you. Article is over. Whatever. We tried.

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PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ?: Could Zoe Cassavetes have directed a film for the Ritz relaunch?
Word has it the director of “Broken English” has shot a film involving fashion people and designers for the reopening of Paris’ mythic, five-star hotel.
A spokeswoman for the Ritz Paris had no comment.
There’s a lot of anticipation for the reopening — the hotel is officially taking reservations from March 14— billed as the biggest refurbishment in the history of the 117-year-old establishment.
Cassavetes, the daughter of actor and filmmaker John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, is very much plugged to the fashion world. Her fashion credentials include being a muse of Marc Jacobs, participating in Miu Miu’s “Women’s Tales” — and being a front-row regular at fashion shows.
RELATED STORY: Chanel to Open Spa at the Ritz>>

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly called him out on his sexist behavior during the GOP debate on August 6, reminding him: “You have called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs’, ‘dogs’, ‘slobs’, and ‘disgusting animals.”

It must be wonderful to be dead and keep writing. I guess when you’re a genius, nothing can stop you.

Like Hemingway. He died in 1961 but he keeps writing all kinds of snappy lines. I just saw a new posthumous quote this week: “The first draft of anything is shit.” It’s all over the Internet.

Imagine the excitement of the people hearing it at a writers conference séance when he transmitted that brilliant, ineffable wisdom to them from The Other Side!

Right.

But if you feel unhappy about your first draft, or you want to encourage someone who just showed you a draft that could be a lot better, why not attribute the maudlin line to a master like Hemingway for comfort? Or Faulkner or Neil Gaiman or J.K. Rowling or Stephen King or Anne Rice or any writer at all….

Hell, even Snooki might inspire some people because her name is on books, right? if they’re desperate enough?

Here’s the thing. Quote-grabbers who are overly reliant on Google and Goodreads fall into the Famous Writer Quotation Trap all the time: they don’t bother checking for a source. They also don’t bother checking to see if there’s a web site which might list that quote as not being by the author. Yes, web sites like that really exist for famous writers.

Of course, there’s always Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations or The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations…. If you’re embarrassed to go old-school, you don’t have to tell anyone.

How bad does spreading bogus quotations get? Check out the lines below. People who seriously think they’re by Hemingway, well, they haven’t read him. And if they have read him, maybe they were multi-tasking at the time, or stoned, or really just don’t get Hemingway.

When it comes to quoting someone, I like to follow Madonna’s advice, “Make sure a quote doesn’t bite you on the ass–unless that turns you on.”

(I made that up, of course)

Lev Raphael is the author of 25 quotable books in genres from memoir to mystery which you can find on Amazon.

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Willow Smith just landed her biggest fashion coup yet, grabbing a spot in Marc Jacobs‘ fall 2015 campaign (alongside Cher no less). It might mark the first time Jacobs’ customers have been introduced to Will Smith‘s 14-year-old daughter, but the rest of us already know her as a style rebel-icon for the social media generation. If you’ve been paying attention since her “Whip My Hair” days, you’re aware there’s no shortage of fascinating fashion soundbites.

March 2015: In a recent interview given to Billboard, Smith called her style “high-fashion nomad. I could literally climb a mountain and survive a couple nights in nature. That’s a requirement for my clothes because one day I was on the freeway and I saw a mountain, so I literally just pulled over and climbed it.”

November 2014: “I like to go to places with my high-fashion things where there are a lot of cameras, so I can just go there and be like, ‘Yep, yep, I’m looking so sick,'” she told The New York Times this fall. “But in my regular life, I put on clothes that I can climb trees in.”

November 2014: “Flexibility with yourself and your looks shows self confidence. You’re willing to paint on your canvas with whatever comes from within you,” she told Wonderland.

August 2011: “I wear anything I feel like,” she told Teen Vogue back when she was a youthful 10 years old. “If I want to put on a pair of Converse with a pencil stuck through them, I will.” She also revealed fashion is a constant part of the family conversation. “It’s pretty much a regular family. At dinner we talk about ‘What did you do today? What did you wear today?'”

March 2011: When she cohosted an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Smith caught flak for being a little bit rude to the talk show legend in the eyes of some viewers. When asked about her closet, she answered back, “Giiiiiiirl. No, it’s like from here to there.”

Jacobs introduced Smith’s campaign imagery via Instagram, writing about “those individuals whose creativity, unique vision, and voice [that] inspire all of us.” He also revealed that the fall ’15 lineup wouldn’t stop with Cher and Smith, with more to come in the next few weeks.

Anna Kendrick has been charming us for years during her interviews. From telling David Letterman when his cat toy looked phallic to giving advice on how to take the perfect naked selfie, she isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.

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The ladies of Twitter talked a lot about orgasms this week. Twitter user Boobston Girl posed an interesting question: “But can I get a Best Actress award for faking orgasms?” (Honestly, we’re not sure, but you definitely should be able to.)

Twitter user Slightly Funny Jew added to the conversation, tweeting, “Dear Women, ‘If you fake it, you will make it’ doesn’t apply to orgasms.” True, but can we still get an award for it?

For more great tweets from women, scroll through the list below. Then visit our Funniest Tweets From Women page for our past collections.

‘Reading these books is like being in the locker room with the greatest players and storytellers in golf history. So sit back and enjoy it.’ – Lee Trevino. ‘Every golfer should come to the first tee with fourteen clubs, a dozen balls, a handful of tees, and at least one great golf story. Thanks to Don Wade’s series of books, now we can have unlimited mulligans on our scorecards.’ – Jim Nantz, CBS Sports. ‘I’ve been telling Don Wade my stories for all these years and I’m glad to see he’s finally put them to good use.’ – Sam Snead. ‘All the great golf stories you’ve hoped to hear or read – and now you can.’ – Dave Anderson New York Times. ‘Whether you’ve just taken up the game of golf or played it all your life, you’ll treasure this book and the stories it has to tell.’ – Amy Alcott Don Wade, a senior editor at Golf Digest magazine, has been covering professional golf and collecting true stories about the game since the 1970s. He has written articles for such publications as the New York Times and the Boston Globe as well as books with Ken Venturi, Sam Snead, Amy Alcott, and Nancy Lopez. Illustrator Paul Szep is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and author of two collections of editorial cartoons.

The week started off with a general panic when the Northeast learned it could be getting up to three feet of snow. Some were not too happy with Storm Juno and decided to vent their frustrations on Twitter: “Maybe if Winter Storm Juno had used protection with Winter Storm Michael Cera we wouldn’t be in this mess,” OhNoSheTwitnt tweeted.

Fortunately, the blizzard was rather underwhelming for those in NYC, leaving a whopping eight inches of snow on the ground. Akilah Hughes put it perfectly when she tweeted, “This is not the first time a man didn’t know what 8 inches actually looks like. #Snowmageddon2015.” Truth.

Sarah Miller threw one out for all the proud childfree ladies when she tweeted, “That lady who thinks life without kids is meaningless has clearly never watched downton abbey alone in the bathtub.” Preach.

For more great tweets from women, scroll through the list below. Then visit our Funniest Tweets From Women page for our past collections.

Kim Kardashian’s personal brand:
1) family first
2) sex is great
3) look fly 100% of the time

While the new year can be exciting for some, Alexis Wilkinson wasn’t too hot on 2015 yet: “I really don’t know how I feel about it so far so can I just binge watch 2015 in like a couple months.” That’s our plan.

With the new year brought new TV shows to Netflix — the most important being “Friends.” Natasha Rothwell made an interesting observation, tweeting, “If there were a drinking game for every erect nipple that appears on Friends you’d get drunk every episode. That set must’ve been freezing.” Truth.

For more great tweets from women, scroll through the list below. Then visit our Funniest Tweets From Women page for our past collections.

But levity found its way in to a few moments amid the chaos. Alexandra Svokos braced herself for winter’s big reveal, tweeting “We’re getting dangerously close to the point at which I reveal to my coworkers that I wear Uggs.” Jenni Konner also had some seasonal sartorial concerns: “Who will love me enough to tell me if I can pull off a hat?”

Harvard Lampoon editor Alexis Wilkinson captured our precise outlook on social interaction after this week: “A fun thing to do is say ‘new phone who’s this’ to people in person.” Yep, it’s happening.

For more great tweets from women, scroll through the list below. Then visit our Funniest Tweets From Women page for our past collections.

The ladies of Twitter were on their A-game while dating this week. We need to take a page out of Gaby Dunn‘s book of pick up lines after she tweeted, “‘You’re telling me you made it this far in life without knowing your Hogwarts house?!’ – another successful conversation with a man.” Very smooth.

As the week wound down, the women of twitter were, understandably, a bit tired. Twitter user AnotherBottleofWhine was one of the many exhausted ladies excitedly awaiting for Friday, “I love you. // – a thing I just whispered to my bed.” TGITW (Thank God It’s The Weekend).

For more great tweets from women, scroll through the list below. Then visit our Funniest Tweets From Women page for our past collections.

My four year old telling me “mama I chewed my ice into a potato” is like watching a dna test come back positive

“”LITTLE Lyova Haskell Rosenthal is precocious,” commented the New York Times after the young child actress had warned the tenor onstage that an actor was sneaking up on him with a big knife in a scene from L’Oracolo. (Little actress Lyova was confined thereafter to Gladys Swarthout’s dressing room to protect the opera from future ruining of the dramatic scene.)

The minute I looked at the new memoir of little actress Lyova Haskell Rosenthal, better known as actress Lee Grant, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist I Said Yes To Everything. Now the book is here from Blue Rider Press and I’m afraid I pretty much abandoned everything else until I read it.

• Lee Grant is one of America’s greatest actors, most heroic survivors, a contradictory enigma one minute, a sympathetic victim the next. A giant talent condemned falsely to a life of failure who keeps turning it all around into triumph…a woman whose central question is “how do I keep them from knowing how old I am?” while she struggles with the simple domestic yes and no of living with men who dominate and control her.

She was nominated for an Oscar for the famous movie Detective Story, which made Kirk Douglas a star, then found herself listed as a Communist and ruined for movies on the infamous Hollywood black list. (She didn’t really know what a Communist was; and as it turns out, neither did Hollywood, where frightened producers and studio heads condemned giant talents to nothingness over nothing.) Lee Grant didn’t get off the list for a dozen years, not even until JFK was President.

Meantime, Lee Grant went right on acting, acting out, writing, reading, searching, exploring life and sex and meeting everyone who was anyone. And finally, to making classic TV and movies like Valley of the Dolls…Peyton Place…In the Heat of the Night…Shampoo.
It has always been a great secret cachet in my crowd to meet Lee Grant and to try to understand her myth and survival, to enjoy her burgeoning talent and sympathize for her mistreated soul. Eventually she won an Oscar, the Emmy, the First ever Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Women in Film, and founded her own production company. She now makes prize-winning documentaries.

•I CONFESS I was disappointed not to find myself in the index of the glorious in the back of this book, though I am such a minor player in her saga. Lee does make you feel like the only person in the world she has ever loved or trusted (although all I was doing was talking to her about Elizabeth Taylor and what made the star of stars tick.) Like Helen Gurley Brown, Lee Grant lets you remove from her presence while thinking you are the most fab person she has ever met. Quite an art!

ANYWAY, I love, adore, admire Lee Grant. Some of this book makes you think she is crazy; other parts open the reader up to her humanity, love of others, tolerance and the way she keeps show business at arm’s length with a jaundiced but innocent eye. I can’t really do justice to this memoir; it is crammed with names from Orson Welles to Warren Beatty…Jill Clayburgh to Faye Dunaway…Kim

Stanley to Meryl Streep…Roddy McDowall to Chris Walken…Oscar Levant to John Garfield…and on and on; let’s include Gloria Steinem and Susan Sontag.

Here is just a sample of the eye of Lee Grant talking about Grace Kelly after the Hollywood star and super beauty had decided to leave the movie business and become Prince Rainier’s Princess of Monaco. You haven’t read this particular description of the girl from Philadelphia, nor of how the writer Lee Grant segues from her own important business to comment on elements of her own private life. And she never writes or warns the reader of these amazing digressions, not even saying, ‘But I digress…’ You seldom know what road you are going to travel down with Lee.

• She writes:

A kind of elegant ex-actor, mixer in social scenes approached me about doing an hour-long TV program on Princess Grace in Monaco. Budd Schulberg was writing. Interesting. Budd had given names to the committee (on un-American activities.) He’d also written On the Waterfront, the great film Elia Kazan directed. This was the project Kazan and Arthur Miller had shopped in Hollywood and been turned down because –it seemed to favor the unions — and the studios were trying to strangle them.

Budd was a charming worn-out guy. Very simpatico. We met on the way to the airport–we looked in each other’s eyes, saw the worlds apart in them, and kept our thoughts to ourselves.

I visited the castle, went through all the formalities. Çastles are dreary old places. One thinks, the upkeep, the upkeep. We were taken to the royal living quarters — a comfy living room. Grace was welcoming, charming, stressed and nervous–I asked her the questions Budd had written. The answers were formulaic and pleasant. Her posture was that of a girl whose mother had told her to sit straight.

After the first set of questions, while the camera was reloading, I spoke to her as one woman to another, one actress to another. Before this choice to be princess, Grace had gone with my first theatre boyfriend, Gene Lyons. Gene and I were together for two years: Grace and Gene were together for two years– and he was madly in love with her. She was a rich girl from Philly. Taking away the trappings, I said to her, ‘Why are you so cowered? What are you afraid of? Here’s a chance to talk about your life, your children, your husband– be open. You’re so closed off; the things you’re saying sound scripted. It’s boring.’ She started to cry. The producer, who had been her friend in an earlier life, stepped in. ‘Am I boring?’ she asked. ‘Am I boring? I don’t want to be.’ I watched and wished the camera were rolling. There she was, our Grace, so vulnerable and appealing. The producer was furious.

On camera she relaxed more, was very charming, but revealed nothing. She saved the reality for the periods when the camera reloaded, and then she would really talk. She had no friends in Monaco, and the women in the Royal families, those who were in the court, were very critical of her free and easy American style. She, at the time, was surrounded by sharp, mean critics. So she had to watch what she said at all times. Her husband, Prince Rainer? He had a lot of other interests, and she missed him. And he was sending her off that year to live in Paris by herself, because Stephanie was going to start school there, and he felt that the child needed her mother’s guiding hand. I said, ‘Well, Paris– you’ll be away from here at least!’ She said, ‘I spent time in Paris. I was never invited to dinner. I was never invited to anyone’s house, their home. The only time anyone asked me anywhere was to some big function, where they wanted me with the ribbon across my chest!’

While I was getting to know and care for Grace, Joey and Larry joined me in Monaco. I miss Larry Hauben more than any other of my dead friends. He was so fucking unique and smart. And a total druggie. Larry won the Oscar for the screenplay One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.

Larry and Joey took off for Rome, where Joey’s friend Cerro was the biggest and cuddliest coke dealer in town. They all stayed up at the Spanish Steps at the Hotel De La Ville, which had been my favorite hotel, and then went through, literally, pounds of white powder piled up on the coffee table. Joey and Larry understood Italian perfectly, though they didn’t speak a word of it, and had hours of heated discussions with Cerro and his friends. Larry slept upright in a closet, and they were both thrown out of the Vatican for lying on the marble floor in order to better view the Sistine Chapel. A boy’s life. All the while I stayed behind in Monaco.

This week, we’re so happy to welcome guest curator, Melissa Sher, a Best Parenting Tweets veteran with a knack for humor who speaks the truth about parenthood on her blog, Mammalingo, and right here on HuffPost Parents. Read her selections below, and follow @HuffPostParents and @thismelissasher on Twitter for more!

My dad once told me, "Don’t feel bad if you strike out. That just means we can get out of here sooner.” #Dadvice

Nicole Holofcener wrote and directed one of the year’s most-loved sleeper hits: “Enough Said,” the romantic-comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini as divorcees who spark an unexpected connection. Holofcener’s naturalistic writing style and grounded character dramedies have charmed audiences on the big screen for the better part of two decades, first with “Walking and Talking,” and later with movies like “Friends with Money” and “Please Give.” She’s also directed episodes of some of the decade’s best television series: “Sex and the City,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Six Feet Under,” “Parks and Recreation” and “Enlightened,” among others.

Last year, however, she was the subject of much acclaim. Reviewing “Enough Said,” Slate’s Dana Stevens praised Holofcener’s “admirable delicacy” and “razor-sharp dialogue.” Stephanie Zacharek of the Village Voice applauded her “knack for observing not just the way people respond to extreme situations, but what they do in everyday ones.” Along the way, the writer/director collected Best Screenplay nods at the Satellite Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards. If things go our way, she’ll earn an Oscar nomination for the movie come Jan. 16. In the meantime, though, we snagged a few minutes with Holofcener on the phone, where she was candid about being snubbed for the Golden Globe, the television show she’d most love to direct and what it was like to work with Louis-Dreyfus and Gandolfini.

Did you have Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini in mind while writing the script? Was anyone else considered for these roles?
I did not have them in mind. I did have a couple of other actors in mind that I won’t mention at the moment because it would be kind of uncouth. I had a general idea of who I would like and who would be great, but you never know who’ll be interested or available. But it does help, as a writer, to put faces on characters. It helps me to write.

As an actress, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a master of improv. Was there an improv component to the project?
We stuck to the script. It’s funny, I wouldn’t say so much improv as ad-libbing. I don’t know if there’s a big difference, but it’s not like they would improvise and take the scene somewhere different. It’s more like they added a line or two, or changed a line and made it funnier, or added a line at the end of the scene where they thought maybe I cut. It was more like that, and it was very useful. I kept so much of their ad-libs; they’re hilarious and smart and so appropriate for their characters. It was great.

Can you offer an example of a scene that was improved by ad-libbing?
Yeah, Julia gets out of the car, she says, “I like your paddles.” He says, “I like your ass.” And that was Jim. That’s not in the script, and he said that in rehearsal, and I said, “Oh, you’ve got to say that when we shoot.” And he’s like, “No, Albert would never say that.” And there comes a point where it’s like, yeah, Albert might not have said it, but it makes Albert so much sexier and more funny that I want him to say that. I want him to be able to do that. It’s wonderful, right? I mean, what a great way to end the scene — it adds so much.

Right, an added punch.
And it makes him seem sexier because he has the guts to say that.

I know you cast Catherine Keener in basically every movie you direct. Do you think of her as a muse? What’s your gravitation toward her?
My gravitation toward her is based on her talent and our comfort level. I think she’s an extraordinary actor. She has been my muse. I didn’t write [Keener’s “Enough Said” character] Marianne with her in my mind, at least not consciously — but I have written parts just for her, and so in that respect she’s a huge inspiration. She’s fun, she’s smart, she makes my scripts better. Let’s go with that, right?

Did you get to talk to Julia after the announcement of her Golden Globe nomination?
No. Well, I texted her because I never know where the hell she is. I texted her, and then she texted me back. I texted her congratulations, and she texted me, “I hope you’re all right,” because I didn’t get a nomination.

And are you all right?
Well, I was very disappointed, actually. Of course, anybody who says they’re not is lying. As much as I was disappointed for the film and for myself, but I was also disappointed because I really wanted to go and be with her and have fun doing that together. So I don’t think that’s going to happen.

So you don’t see yourself getting invited as being associated with her nomination?
I don’t think so. And I don’t think I’d feel comfortable going since I wasn’t nominated or the movie wasn’t. I’m very happy she was. I’d be heartbroken if she wasn’t; she deserves every acknowledgement she gets.

You’ve directed some of the biggest TV shows of the past decade. What one show would you love to direct right now?
Oh gee, what’s on the air now? I’ve stopped watching anything recently. I read about that show “Getting On,” I think it’s called.

Yeah, with Laurie Metcalf?
Exactly. I wanted a job on that so badly, and I just found out it’s not picked up, I think. Maybe I should figure that out.

It’s on the air now. You should watch it, it’s great.
Yeah, I’m planning on watching the whole thing. It’s so up my alley that when I read about it, I was like, “I want to do one of those!”

It totally seems like your directing style. Would you want to do “Veep”?
Absolutely, I do. I kind of feel like that’s a machine that’s going so well. I don’t know who directs all the different ones, but it’s not as much in my style, obviously. I don’t know, it would be a blast, it really would. But I don’t know, it’s in Washington, and they’ve kind of got their directors set, so it’s not something I’m hoping to — I don’t know how to put it.

Do you have a classic episode of TV or a TV show as a whole that you look back and wish you had been a part of?
Well, yeah, I wish I had directed “The Sopranos.” Watching that, I was like, “Ugh, wish I could have gotten in there, that would have been a blast.” That didn’t happen. I grew up watching “I Love Lucy” obsessively, but I’d be dead by now if I had directed one of those.

You have a “special thanks” credit on “Where the Wild Things Are.” Did your involvement with that film lead you to meet James Gandolfini?
Oh no, I actually just wrote and directed “Where the Wild Things Are” and so they felt that had to put my name there. [Laughs] No, I did not meet Jim through [director Spike Jonze], but I watched several cuts of that movie and gave feedback and helped him try to fix some dialogue. That was the “thank you.” I met Jim in a very traditional way: I actually sent him a script of mine a few years ago and wanted to meet him about being in it, but he wasn’t quite right for that particular part, so I kept in the back of my mind because I loved meeting him so much.

Can you tell me what particular part that was?
It was a part that Oliver Platt eventually had in “Please Give.” He was Catherine Keener’s husband, and Jim would have been great, but he had just come off of “The Sopranos” more recently and his character kept screwing around. He had so many mistresses, and in “Please Give,” the character cheats and I didn’t want that connotation. Although I thought he would have been great in the part as well, but I’m so glad I got a bigger part for him and a chance to work with him longer than that.

Your next movie, “Every Secret Thing,” seems different. What attracted you to a crime story, and how do you decide once you’ve written a script whether you’ll direct it as well?
Well, this one was very easy. I was hired by Frances McDormand, who was producing it, to adapt the book, and I thought the book was really interesting and psychological. And the main two characters were 11-year-old girls, and I love that kind of dark psychological stuff, and I enjoyed writing it. And when it came time to direct it, I realized I couldn’t go with something that dark that long in my life.

So that was a decision you made?
Yeah, and it involved the death of a baby, and I just couldn’t go there.

So you could write it, but you didn’t want to have to put yourself in the scene of having to direct it for maybe months on end?
Yeah, and then edit it for months, exactly. I couldn’t face that. I think I made the right choice.